Stage 6: Evaluation
During the evaluation stage it is important to gather data to better understand the impact of digital change on the organisation and determine what has helped or hindered the change process. Evaluation includes whether the outcome criteria have been met as expected in the Vision. This stage can provide evidence of success so that the changes can be extended from a specific department or pilot line to the entire organisation. It can also highlight areas where further changes are needed or where new barriers have been identified that need to be addressed.
The CResDA tool can be used at this stage to evaluate whether digital attitudes have changed within the organisation, and, if desired, additional evaluation questions can be added to:
Understand the impact that digital change has had on people and the organisational processes, and, more specifically, whether they have experienced the specific changes that have been made as part of the change cycle.
Reassess employees’ digital attitudes, understand whether the implemented changes have led to employees using the new technology, and explore additional barriers to change.
Provide evidence of success so that the changes can be extended from a specific department or pilot line to the entire organisation.
Feedback
At the Evaluate stage, a feedback report should be made available to employees which:
Details the prevalence of different digital attitudes and perceptions of the change process
Outlines whether attitudes have changed since before the changes took place
Provides recommended actions for how the organisation will enhance digital attitudes and perceptions of contextual resources going forward
Recommended period for evaluation
It is recommended that evaluation takes place approximately six months after implementation which:
Is enough time to allow initial changes to appear
Enables modification of courses of action if appropriate
Prevents detrimental effects from becoming more embedded and more difficult to change.
Organisations piloting digital change in one specific area of the business should conduct this evaluation at six months, and again six months after rollout to the wider organisation.
Iterative process
Parts of the change cycle can be repeated again if necessary. For instance, if only small modifications are required to the action plans but the Vision does not need adjusting then the Action Plan stage can be revisited. The evaluation stage can then be repeated approximately six months after these modifications. If substantive changes are required to the Vision, then the future scenario may need to be modified, which may involve going back to the Vision stage or repeating the full change cycle again. Multiple iterative implementation and evaluation stages can be undertaken by taking into account changing organisational priorities to maximise the effectiveness of digital change.
Working with an external evaluation provider
Although it is possible for organisations to use the Digital Change Toolkit independently, some organisations might consider enlisting the services of an external provider that specialises in the people and organisational aspects of digital change. Partnering with independent providers such as universities or research institutes can provide organisations with additional expertise and advice relating to digital change as well as enhance employees’ trust that their responses to surveys will be kept confidential.